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Topic: First cheddar with herbs (Read 3087 times)

Using a basic cheddar recipe I added herbs from a pack of cheese herbs (chives, celery, parsley, garlic and onion) plus a quarter teaspoon of celery seed as I love the combination of cheese and celery.

I am now waiting for the rind to form as it only came out of the press this morning. It smells really good but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating as they say.

I only started cheesemaking last month and have made quite a few cheeses. What a shame we have to wait so long to find out if we are getting it right I do everything by the book, and they do look good but they could all taste like stewed cabbage for all I know

I feel your frustration. I just started making pressed cheeses in January and will have made 10 by week's end (to include 3 parmesans that require a minimum of 7 months aging). I'm officially addicted. The wait to taste any of them is killing me! I'm sure there will be disappointments, but really hoping the majority will be at least edible :-). Think positively and remember - what could possibly go wrong?!?! ;-)

Eileen, have you thought of trying a caerphilly or mutschli? Both can be ready to eat in as little as a month. Either is fairly easy to make and interesting to eat. It gives you a chance to check your technique without waiting too long. I also like to make montasio and iberico which can be eaten young but improve with age.

I also recommend caerphilly. It's a good cheese, fairly forgiving, and ready quick (start eating in 3 weeks - but can age out longer if you wish). Caerphilly is good one to learn technique with. Also, butterkase is good for similar reasons (ready in one to two months) as is Lancaster (again, about 2 months). Pav's tomme recipe is a good one to familiarize yourself with as it can take all sorts of different directions depending upon how you treat it after the make. Montasio is a nice simple procedure that produces a very nice grating cheese, but you will have to age it a year or so, so once you're confident, make one, age it natural rind for 3 or 4 months, then wax and forget about it for a year or more. Make a second with less lipase for a table cheese. Some other good ones (cheddar types) are dunlop (good in a couple months) and cheshire (good in about 6 to 8 months).

My suggestion is to find a couple fast cheeses that you like, but also learn a few that require long aging. The short "quick eats" help distract you from the long aging cheeses. And, because you get some quick turn around, you can age out your longer ones with a natural rind for a few months before waxing and freeing up ripening box space. I find it takes a while for a cheese to really be ready for waxing, but others seem to be fine with waxing quite quick out of the press. Could be I still need work on my moisture expulsion technique.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts that have found their way down my neck and out of my fingers, and they should be treated as such.

- Jeff

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